By Scott Harrah
“The Drowsy Chaperone”
Music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar
Directed by Casey Nicholaw
The Marquis Theatre
1535 Broadway, between 44th and 45th St.
(212-307-4100 ;www.drowsychaperone.com)
This fun, lighthearted send-up of 1920s musicals was fast becoming the surprise hit of the season before its 13 Tony nominations sealed its success— and for good reason. “The Drowsy Chaperone” is a breezy, escapist one act that manages to be colorful and family-friendly while having a smart, edgy sense of humor that is rare in a modern-day Broadway musical. It’s the type of intelligent musical comedy we often see in more experimental theaters downtown. The show, which originally played at the 1999 Toronto Fringe Festival, has opened in New York after being a critical and commercial success in Los Angeles (where it was nominated for eight Drama Critics’ Circle Awards).
On the surface, “The Drowsy Chaperone” may seem like a spoof of such 1920s fare as “No, No, Nanette,” but its show-within-a-show storyline gives it a unique twist. Bob Martin brilliantly plays the Man in Chair, a flamboyant theater enthusiast who sits in his living room and tells us about a fictional 1928 musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.” He is the narrator for the evening and asks the audience to imagine the era when everyone couldn’t wait to see the latest Cole Porter or Gershwin show—a time when Broadway did not feature so many schlocky big-budget musicals written by people like Elton John. He puts on a static-filled cast album of “The Drowsy Chaperone” and suddenly his humble apartment is transformed into a vintage theater in the Roaring 20s, with cast members recreating the show in all its campy glory.
The musical itself is pure fluff and not nearly as interesting as the man onstage discussing it. The silly plot revolves around gorgeous Broadway starlet Janet Van De Graaf (Tony winner Sutton Foster), who is engaged to marry rich, handsome Robert Martin (Troy Britton Johnson), a tap-dancing wonder who is a definite crowd-pleaser with the show’s second song, “Cold Feets.” The fun-loving, booze-soaked Drowsy Chaperone (played with aplomb by Beth Leavel) is commissioned to keep the bride and groom from seeing each other before the wedding. Since the story is set during Prohibition, the chaperone brings along a portable bar and is constantly swigging champagne and cocktails that make her “drowsy.” The show lampoons the genre of the era with such stereotypical characters as gangsters, a Latin lover, and a powerful theater mogul named Feldzieg (obviously a thinly veiled parody of Florenz Ziegfeld) who has a squeaky-voiced “floozy” girlfriend. TV veterans Georgia Engel (best known as ditsy Georgette on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) and Edward Hibbert (the food critic Gil on “Frasier”) play vaudevillians that indulge in lots of corny slapstick and inane shtick. All the mayhem leads to a rousing finale reminiscent of the Astaire-Rogers musical “Flying Down to Rio.”
The most alluring aspect of the entire show is, of course, Bob Martin’s insightful and hilarious narrative, but this is also a solid musical with great songs, colorful costumes and some first-rate performances. One of the show’s biggest delights is Sutton Foster, an actress who now has an impressive stage presence as well as a soaring, beautiful voice. Her big, razzle-dazzle song, “Show Off,” in which she does cartwheels and splits, is the show’s most exhilarating production number. Beth Leavel, as the Drowsy Chaperone, steals many scenes with her exaggerated mannerisms and droll delivery of dialogue. “The Drowsy Chaperone” is not without its flaws, but it is wonderfully entertaining, truly original, and never tries to be anything more than a mindless, madcap satire of old musicals.
WWW Downtown Express
